The Heroes of Prophecy finally come face to face with the Demon Queen. It was shocking to think that she would come of all people.

Lillian starts walking to the exhausted Heroes. They were in absolutely no condition to fight. The armor and clothes were signed by the fire, and the armor was frosted and battered. While they did have an additional potion on hand, they were more likely to engage in another hefty battle.

Ragnar looked at his shield, which was still in its ax form in the distance. There was no chance of getting that in time, and Sylph seemed to be tapping out of her magic.

"Damn it! What do we do!??" Jarred thought to himself.

Lillian lifted her hand, a powerful ball of fire manifesting her hand. it grew, bigger and bigger as her cold eyes darted at the weakened heroes.

Kalika without warning, ran past the heroes and straight into Lillian. Kalika hugged her sister, stopping her in her tracks. This surprising turn of events quieted the air.

"Please. Don't. Don't do it, Lily. It's my fault. L-let's just go back. Just, let them go. please."

"Lily?" Ragnar repeated softly. He was in absolute shock.

The fireball in Lillian’s hands began to shrink back to nothing. a hint of familiarity wafted Ragnar as he looked at Lillian’s face.

"I-it couldn't be…" he muttered.

Lillian placed her hand on Kalika's head, much gentler than expected. Kalika looked up into Lillian's face, finding her eyes were still black as night.

"I don't have time for your games anymore, Kalika! How long do you plan on keeping this up, huh? Do you know the trouble I went through to keep you safe!?"

"Huh?"

Kalika's eyes widened in shock. She didn't understand her sister at all. "Do you really think I like seeing you locked up in that prison cell?"

"S-shut up! You tortured me and tormented me every day! Since when did you start caring about my safety!?"

Lillian grabbed Kalika's mouth to shut it.

"I don't want to hear it. Twenty-five times Kalika. Twenty-five times. You keep making this harder for yourself. Please, just give it up already!"

"Lillian Archelion," Ragnar asked.

Lillian turned her attention back to the heroes.

"By God, what's happened to you?" Ragnar was in complete shock.

Jarred looked back at Ragnar questionably. He then came to the same conclusion as Ragnar, Remembering Kalika's words the night before and what the Demon Queen herself had just said... "No way. It couldn't be…"

"Kalika!" Jarred wanted answers. He started to grow more and more concerned as she didn't answer him. "Kalika!"

Lillian narrowed her eyes at Kalika. "Should I be the one to tell them?"

Kalika grabbed Lillian's dress with trembling hands. It became obvious to Lillian that Kalika was scared, but not of her.

"N…No… I'll do it. But please, just let them go."

"You know as well as I do that that's not going to happen Kalika. "

Kalika gripped the dress a little tighter. "P-please Lily. I don't ask for much… At least give them a fighting chance."

Kalika's voice was soft but also very clear, and her desperation was evident. Her sister's request had Lillian stumped, as her sister never really cared about anyone else, not even her.

Lillian took her hand off Kalika's head. "Fine. I'll give them a chance. Now tell them already."

Satisfied with the answer, Kalika rubbed her nose with a now flushed face and looked at the Heroes with a bitter yet sad smile. "I'm sorry. But I'm not the actual Saintess…" Kalika shifted her eyes to the ground as she continued with the truth.

"The truth is that the demon that stands before you is… my sister… Lillian. She’s the actual Saintess. I only made a deal with the Head Priest to usurp power from her and my father. And had her… executed on fake charges."

Kalika started to tear up a little. "I really wanted to tell you all… I really did." After a little while, she looked back at the three heroes. "I'm sorry but… I just wasn't the person you were looking for."

There was a deafening silence, and the startling truth had the Heroes of Prophecy shocked and bewildered by the revelation told to them. None of them wanted to believe that this cruel Demon Queen was the Saintess.

"Kalika. C'mon, you don't have to lie-!"

She's not lying." Lillian interrupted.

"I was executed. Publicly. Beheaded on the spot." Lillian smiled as her eyes returned to normal. "It's only thanks to the Demon King that I'm alive today, Albeit as a demon, of course."

Lillian quickly gave a menacing Gaze at the Heroes. "But it is also because of her that I'm no longer human! And I'll never forgive her for that!"

Kalika shook a little, hearing Lillian's last statement.

"But I still Love you , Kalika. No matter what, we'll always be sisters." Lillian gave Kalika a little hug and petted her, too.

Jarred seemed lost still, as if lost in thought. "Jarred. What do we do?" Sylph asked worriedly.

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"I… I don't know," he said.

Jarred eyes glowed blue to find that the clairvoyance skill was still pointing to Kalika.

Jarred spoke softly to himself as if a taboo Idea came to his head. "I-it can't be… does God want us to kill Kalika…"

Jarred looked at Kalika, who was still upset and being hugged by her sister Lillian.

"NO! That can't be it! He wants us to save her!" Jarred readied his platinum sword.

Despite his immense exhaustion, he was still willing to keep going. Even at the cost of his own life.

Kalika, seeing this, tries to calm him down. "S-stop! Don't!"

"No! I refuse to back down now! Not When you're in trouble!"

Kalika starts to cry a little. "No. You Idiot."

"Oh," Lillian noticed. That's fine by me. But first let me put my little sister away." Lillian placed her hand on the back of Kalika's head.

"W-wait, Lily, no!"

"Sorry, Kal, this part of the conversation is for grownups only."

blood splattered on Lillian's face, as Kalika's entire body was shredded to a million pieces by immense wind magic. She proceeds to turn the remains of her sister into ash completely, cleaned the evidence of blood even from herself..

The Heroes could only look on in horror. "H-how could she?" Sylph was left gasping. "She actually killed her!" Ragnar was horrified.

Jarred could only look on with a mix of both horror and anger. There were no words to be spoken about Lillian or her cruelty.

Without much thought, Jarred rushed in with his sword. With as much power as he could muster, he swung his sword down at Lillian, only for it to be blocked by a single finger.

Lillian smiled, amused. "Oh my. I see you're very excited. But I think that's too soon."

With a flick of Lillian's finger, she sent Jarred flying back to his allies. He landed hard on his back.

"Jarred!" They both shouted. It was hard not to be worried; after all, they had just witnessed the power of the Demon Queen firsthand.

"Kalika wanted me to give you three a fighting chance. Aside from that, it seems like a good opportunity to test some of my powers." Lillian snapped her fingers, in that instant a golden barrier filled the entire rocky terrain around them.

Lillian looked around the barrier she had just made. "Hmmm… This is the Purging Barrier…"

Lillian's eyes then had a glint of green coming from her red eyes. She posed her hands as if dropping a veil. The three Heroes suddenly glowed a golden color.

"What… I'm feeling… Stronger…?" Jarred looks at his body curiously. "Me too…" Ragnar looked to find his scratches gone.

"It's like an all-in-one attribute spell." She looked at her hands to find her magic flowing more freely.

"Using this on other demons makes it quite a formidable killer. Fortunately, it doesn't have the same effect on me as it does regular demons."

"Here." Using her magic, Lillian passed the ax back to Ragnar. "This is yours, I presume."

Ragnar caught the ax, turning it back into a shield. "If I may ask. Why is it that you're fighting alongside the demons?"

"Heh. I don't think even Lucius, the King of Demon, has asked me that…although he probably already knows why that is…"

Lillian walked further back to give the Heroes some distance. "Perhaps I'll tell you when this fight is over. If any of you are still alive, that is."

"Oh, and before we get started." Lillian held out her hand with three fingers. "Before you die, I'll make sure to revive each of you. But I’ll only give each of you three chances."

"Don't act cocky." Jarred, once again, posed his sword. Sylph and Ragnar followed Jarred's lead.

Although a little hesitant, they knew there was no running from this predicament.

"Please make sure to give it your all. Otherwise, I won't get any satisfaction from this bout." Lillian stood tall with her arms crossed.

Without wasting another second, Sylph used her skill to prepare a wall and walls of fireballs and stone spikes. Lillian smiled upon seeing this. The next moment, a heavy barrage of fireballs and earth spikes were pelted at Lillian!

Lillian danced through the barrage of fireballs and earth spikes effortlessly. Lillian moved on to close the distance between her and the Heroes, with the one on the frontline being Jarred with his sword at the ready. Jarred readied to counter Lillian only to be passed by.

Lillian's seemed to actually be aiming for Sylph. Seeing this, Ragnar got his shield ready to defend.

CLONK!!

Lillian’s clawed hands collided with Ragnar's shield with the impact shaking the entire terrain. The Shield withstood Lillian's first blow.

Heat pressed all around Lillian. Looking above, a rain of fire became visible. "Oh." She then looked down to find herself sinking into the ground earth.

In a swift motion, Lillian reached for Ragnar, only for her hand to pass right through him. With his eyes green, he gave a subtle chuckle. "Don't underestimate us, Lillian."

Fire met the ground in a glorious and spectacular display. Colors green, purple, and red started to envelop the scene. Jarred could only watch with anticipation for the shower of fire to finish. Sylph, on the other hand, seems dead set to finish Lillian.

"You're not getting anywhere." Lillian's voice could be heard from the barrage of fire and colors.

Instantly, the entire terrain of the fire was cleared by Lillian’s wind magic.

To the horror of Jarred and Sylph, Ragnar was now bleeding on the ground and Lillian was holding something fleshy in her hands.

Lillian glanced at Sylph. "You want your friend to live, don't you?"

"It's much harder for a person to heal when their body part is missing." Lillian approached the now-dying Ragnar. She wasted no time placing the fleshy bit where it belonged and healed him completely.

She raised her hand just enough for the heroes to see her dropping her three fingers to two.

Lillian grinned. "Two lives left for the big guy. Oh, and please just call me Queen or your Majesty. I'd like to keep the formalities."

A blade came swinging down on Lillian, but Lillian's quick reflexes easily intercepted this. The sword now rested between Lillian's two fingers.

"Perhaps you three need another boost?" she said.

"Damn you!!!" Jarred attempted a game of strength with his sword against Lillian. His fierce determination shined through, surprising Lillian. She quickly averted its trajectory, letting the sword completely miss her by a hair and into the ground. She placed her feet on the sword amused by Jarred.

Although still in shock by what occurred moments earlier, Ragnar opted to assist Jarred, attacking Lillian from behind with his ax. The strike landed, penetrating a quarter of her body.

Lillian turned with a smile to Ragnar. "You actually got me. Good work."

She then grabbed the head of the ax, forcing it out of her body and proceeded to kick both Ragnar and Jarred away from her. Her wound started to instantly mend itself back together just moments later.

Once again, Lillian was surrounded by fireballs. "This again?"

Sylph's eyes started to glow a brighter green. "I added a little more kick to them," she said, gesturing with her hands. Once again, she sent a flurry of fireballs at Lillian. And like before, Lillian dodged them. However, to her shock, Lillian found the fireballs exploding upon impact with the ground.

"What combination of magic is this!?" Lillian was trying to block and dodge the shards of rock. "It's a Magician's secret. Your Majesty."

"Oh, boo."

Lillian started to pick up the pace, now outracing the explosive fireballs being hurled her way. Eventually, she found an opening, which she used to close the distance between her and Sylph quickly.

Seeing this, Sylph readied a larger fireball in front of her in the hopes of discouraging Lillian's attack. This didn't work as Lillian penetrated through the spell with her whole body. She then gave Sylph a sucker punch to the face, sending her into the nearby ice wall.

By the time Jarred and Ragnar arrived, they found their companion on the wall with a hand through her torso. She can only spit out blood from the sudden fatal blow.

Jarred saw this and furiously dashed forth with his sword, only to find himself already slashed in the chest. He can only tumble forward upon realizing how deep the wound was. His breathing became heavy.

Jarred could only grow more frustrated as he attempted to get up. A darkness seemed to be encroaching into his vision until a bright light erased them.

Ragnar quickly checked up on Jarred. "Jarred!" Jarred looked up to see that Sylph had also been healed.

"So, she's alright, too." Jarred thought with relief.

They watched as Lillian put some distance between herself and them. She then peeked behind and raised her hand once more with two fingers.

"You each have two more chances. Please try not to die too fast this time." Lillian said, giving a solemn smile.